NBA Insider – Phoneix Locks up Steve Nash for Two More Years

Apparently, all it took for Steve Nash to stay in Phoenix was a $2 million bump in the two-year contract from Phoenix. Steve Nash, now 35, will stay onboard with the setting Suns until he’s 37 meaning that he’s foregoing a chance at a championship. That, or he’s hoping he can retain his speed that defines him as a player. Because when he’s 37, I don’t even know if the Knicks will go near him with a 10-foot pole.

The move is a huge signing for Phoenix, which has most of its personal under-30. The only two players that are entering their twilight years are Grant Hill and Steve Nash. The idea in Phoenix is that Nash and Hill can help mentor and groom the young talent in Phoenix so that they can turn the corner.

A lot of this remains contingent on the health of Amare Stoudemire, still recovering from surgery to repair a detached retina. Of course, reading Phoenix’s previews for this upcoming NBA betting season read less like hype lines, and way more like obituaries. Hell, even I said that this team was going to stink this year.

But Nash has been convinced otherwise. Perhaps the presence of Alvin Gentry, who instilled the run-and-gun offence that Terry Porter refused to at the onset of last season, is enough for Nash to believe that he can reclaim the point-man job of one of the NBA’s great offenses. Of course, if Stoudemire can return to the dominating 20-10 force he is supposed to be, then the Suns will re-ignite. However, that’s a long shot right now. Stoudemire’s eye injury is considered to be far more serious than most feared.

The Suns, as reported by the BetOnline Locker Room last week, have signed Earl Clark and Channing Frye to bolster the forward spot in Phoenix. Those who have ever seen those two play know they can ball, but neither is destined to be anything close to a superstar.

The rumor around the NBA was that Nash was going to play out the final year of his contract, and then rejoin Mike D’Antoni in New York City as a Knick. Nash has squashed those rumors for now, but still left himself an out. In two years, he’ll be a UFA once more, and he’ll be able to dictate his destiny at that point. For now however, Suns fans can breathe a huge sigh of relief. They have “Two-Time” (MVP) back in the fold for at least two more years.